In reporting stints in Baghdad, Washington and Kabul, Hastings rejected the cozy-access reporting favored by some of his colleagues in favor of bare-knuckle truth-telling that sometimes rubbed his peers and subjects the wrong way.

Hastings won the prestigious George Polk Award for magazine reporting and later wrote a book about McChrystal and his time in the war zone: "The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan."

In a 2010 interview with the L.A. Times, Hastings said he admired "writers who live their lives with integrity and without compromise." He even identified McChrystal as a kindred spirit, someone who also liked to stick it to "The Man."